The invention relates to a heart catheter which consists of a hose having a free end formed as a sonde provided with an electrode arrangement for locating pathological areas.
A heart catheter is provided with a sonde tip in such a manner that subendocardial arrithmogenic areas can be located by means of electrodes associated with the sonde tip (Am. J. Cardial 1984; 54: 186-198). As a result of the movement of the heart however the position of the sonde tip does not remain well determined over an extended period of time so that correlation of diagnosis and subsequent catheter-based therapy is not certain.
There are also heart catheters which include in the catheter hose a light transmitting fiber that permits the execution of photoablations of heart tissue, though in a somewhat uncontrolled manner (Circulation 71, No. 3, 579-586, 1985). With such catheters it is possible that the light fibers come into contact with the endocardium and that they may cause a photodissection of the subendocardium and the myocardium or even a perforation of the heart walls. Even if the irradiation procedures performed by such catheters are supported by additional means such as a second observation catheter or by X-ray surveillance, utilization of such catheters is quite limited.
It is the object of the present invention to provide a heart catheter which permits the operator to locate a specific area of the heart interior and to provide for subsequent irradiation of this area during which the catheter tip is maintained in a stable position while the fiber end is not in contact with the endocardium.